


It's complicated

by CleverImaginativeFluff



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, Humour, Judo, M/M, One Shot, clumsy!Eren - Freeform, modern!AU, schoolAU!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 02:37:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2634914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CleverImaginativeFluff/pseuds/CleverImaginativeFluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a freshman in university and his passion is judo.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	It's complicated

**Author's Note:**

> woohoo first fan fic!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren stumbles

It was surprisingly easy adjusting to university life. That’s not to say that Eren didn’t miss his parents terribly. He did, he’d always had a decent relationship with them, especially his mum, but he had begun to appreciate the chance not to be babied anymore. He just about possessed the necessary skills to live on his own. He could do the laundry and was able to heat cup noodles without killing anybody and could actually make a mean lasagne. He could handle himself better than most his age and he was proud of that. He was a prideful person too, not without reason either. He executed everything in his life with extreme passion often with results that showed it. He was a successful athlete and artist. His paintings were always full of strong colours and rough brush strokes and his Judo skills were really rather impressive. His marks in school were not necessarily something he was terribly passionate about, but he got by, often with the help of his good childhood friend Armin, who was a certified genius with an IQ somewhere above 140 and his cousin Mikasa, who had always supported him and also happened to be the one that introduced him to Judo when he was 12.

Every time he thought about how fortunate the three of them had been to all be able to go to the same university, his heart swelled with happiness. His first term flew by in the bat of an eye and for the next one his schedule seemed, if possible, even better. He now had two classes with Mikasa and one with Armin as opposed to last year were he’d simply had one with Mikasa. This was just amazing!

Besides his busy school life he’d insisted on continuously practicing his Judo with Mikasa despite the fact that their practise time had nearly killed their social life entirely, as in between schoolwork and Judo there wasn’t left much time for anything but eating and sleeping. Armin had been very understanding though, and made some nice friends who were always nice to Mikasa and Eren. Except some stupid kid named Kirschtein. He was always staring at Mikasa like she was a goddess descended from the heavens, and at Eren like he was a fallen angel. That’s to say not very kindly, a bit devilishly even. But he put up with it, for Armin’s sake mostly as they seemed to be getting along. Though his temper made him want to smash the other boy into the ground at times.

Eren had a class with the Kirschtein kid too. Anatomy. Together with Armin as well, which somehow made it both more bearable, but also more annoying as Armin and Jean, which was his first name, obviously wanted to sit next to each other - being friendly and all. On the evening before his first anatomy class he decided to go to the dojo to train for a few hours just to blow off some steam over the annoying fact that he’d be sitting with Jean for 90 minutes first thing in the morning. Early as well, this would be his only morning class.

There were only two other people present as it was rather late when he passed by the dojo. One of them was Annie, who was also a student at the university whom Eren had befriended as she had helped him out with training more than once when Mikasa had been busy, and one of their instructors, Levi, a 30-something year old short man with a not so nice attitude.

Eren bowed before entering the dojo just as Annie passed him on her way out.

“Sorry Eren, you’ll be sparring with the angry shortie, I have to leave- still haven’t started a report that’s due on Thursday.” She said as she patted his back on her way out.

“Good luck with the report then.”

This was annoying. Annie was his favourite sparring partner. And Levi was kind of a dick. And super intimidating. But then again, he’d come to get out with some frustrations and Levi could definitely handle his moodiness as well as Annie.

“Hi Sensei, wanna fight?”

 

Not very long after the question was posed both men lay panting on the ground fighting for control. Though Levi was short he was a black belt of third dan which was immensely impressive and Eren was a brown belt, which was still impressive, but he had notjing on Levi, who was more experienced, all around better and also a fair player which meant that Eren was not going to win.

Levi was obviously winning to his student’s great annoyance.

“Fuck…” the taller of the two mumbled muffled by his heavy breathing as he desperately tried to free his legs from the other’s grip.

“Just tap out, you lost.” Levi said in an irritatingly levelled voice, like he wasn’t exhausted at all. 

Eren continued to stubbornly struggle until Levi tapped his shoulder lightly a few times.

“I would like to actually train too and not just hug some flailing sweaty brat to the floor for like 30 minutes, you know? Now wanna go again or have you completely given up?” Levi asked as he pulled back from Eren who stayed on the floor just being pissed at the world for a while until his Sensei offered him a hand.

After about two hours of training and sparring, with Eren losing six rounds and one being a tie, Levi called it quits.

“Haha, you afraid I’m finally gonna beat ya, old man?” Eren exclaimed triumphantly after Levi tapped out during their last and final tied round, where neither could get a proper hold of the other.

“Haven’t you seen the time brat? Don’t you have school in the morning?” Levi asked aggravated after spending two+ hours with the moody Eren. “I’m also not old…” He grumbled as an afterthought, sounding only mildly offended.

“Shit, it’s almost one!” Eren looked at the clock in the dojo baffled as his Sensei helped him back to his feet once more.

“Yes, and I for one have a job to get around to, so I’ll be retiring for the evening.” ‘retiring for the evening’ who says that? He’s totally an old man, Eren pondered mindlessly for a second. Wait.

“You have a job? Like not this?” He indicated the dojo with two swirling hands.

“Christ brat, I only come here on Wednesdays and Sundays, otherwise I just come to practice, and that does not exactly pay the bills.”

“Oh, well then you must be coming here pretty often, right? just working out all the time,” Levi gave the smiling Eren a quizzical look before parting his smirking lips to answer, which gave Eren just enough time to realize that he’d perhaps used a pick-up line on his Sensei whilst almost beaming at him because of that stupid tie.

‘Do you come here often?’ Whoops. Of course he had to follow up with how fit he was as well.

A faint blush stained his already reddened cheeks as he tried to save it by interrupting Levi. “Uh, I mean I know you do. That wasn’t a question I’ve seen you around all the time.” His blush deepened to something more than the superficial red spots left after their workout when he saw yet another mistake in his beginning verbal diarrhoea. “I mean not that I’m looking after you and pay attention to _you_. I’ve just, sometimes you know, you’re there and you’re good so that’s something I notice, not you,” He gestured to his face, “but that you’re good.” Now he pointed to his chest. Eren send his Sensei an apologetic smile hoping against all common sense that he wouldn’t get swung into the ground by the small man who consisted almost solely of muscles and glares.

Levi’s eyebrows were raised half in amusement and half in annoyed confusion. “You really should be paying attention to _me_ though, I am your Sensei after all. But hey, nice to know that you’re a man who can appreciate another man’s nice body.” Levi held the door open to a gaping Eren. Was he kidding? Surely he was kidding. That’s not what Eren meant when he’d pointed to Levi’s chest. He was starting to feel as deft as he probably appeared.

Eren walked into the changing room on autopilot and started stripping his gi and folding it. Meanwhile behind him Levi was fighting a losing battle against himself, hopelessly struggling not to break down crying from laughter at that silly kid’s blushing and fumbling with words. Christ, to see him of all his students tongue-tied, he wished he could mess with him more, but that would probably not work out… Even so it had been a while since someone had turned that red in the face trying to conjure smalltalk with Levi.

After a very, very silent shower, which on Eren’s part was so awkward he felt like he could drop dead, and so funny on Levi’s part that he felt like he was about to faint from exhaustion trying to fight back the first traces of a grin. Group showers. What an invention. Eren's overwhelming awkwardness was killer.

Eren almost morphed into his towel the second his fingertips touched it whilst Levi calmly dried himself off and picked out his phone. Perhaps the kid had starting appreciating the homosexual-undertones of their previous conversation ?

“I’m getting pizza, want some?” He asked putting on his designer-looking glasses and dialled a number he apparently had memorised.

“Uh, I…” –am dying of hunger after this training and haven’t eaten since noon. Yes please give me everything on the menu. “I’m not that hungry really…”

The newly bespectacled man lifted an eyebrow. “Um yeah, not buying that, if I’m starved then so are you. They’ll deliver it to the dojo in about 15 minutes, I’ll just get something cheesy, everybody likes cheese.”

“I could be lactose intolerant.”

“Except you’re not. I’ve seen you eating dairy products before.” Levi said very matter of factly, slightly annoyed at Eren’s weak inquiry before he pulled a dark blue sweater over his white dress shirt. Immediately he looked years younger out of his gi and under the sweater that was clearly a number or two too big and with the slightly damp and ruffled hair he looked like a university student. The glasses somehow also took years of his face. He certainly didn’t look any older than Eren anymore.

“When have you seen me eating?” Eren asked dumfounded as Levi almost rolled his eyes at the brat. “Literally yesterday. You and your girlfriend were eating a cheesy sandwich and drinking milkshakes when you walked in, has your brain just switched off for today or what?” Levi teased with a face stern enough to confuse Eren over his degree of seriousness. He might have referred to Mikasa?

“Girlfriend?” Eren was getting more and more confused by the second.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then.” Levi mumbled under his breath as an answer for his question. Maybe he shouldn’t mess with the kid if he was a bit dim-witted, that would just be cruel.

“No, wait I don’t have a girlfriend…!” Eren argued in his immense confusion. As he tried to stop Levi from walking out the door before he’d tied his shoes, which resulted in him tripping over his shoelaces and tackling Levi to the floor with an embarrassing ‘yikes’-like sound.

“Holy shit kid, I get it, you’re single and ready to mingle, but take it down a notch, the pizza isn’t even here yet, at least get me dinner before you jump me outside the dojo.  You could have broken my glasses, you li'l’ ass.” Levi half-mumbled irritated with his loss of balance and started reaching for his bag, brown leather jacket and now almost empty water bottle, before adjusting his black spectacles that had been put askew.

Eren felt like someone had set his cheeks on fire as he was internally imploding and falling apart. “Noooooo…” He whispered desperately as he shied back from his Sensei who had seconds earlier been lying pinned to the floor under him. “No, no, no, no, no, that’s not what -Noooo…” He continued the last ‘no’ in another whisper.

“Fuck brat, are you having a hard time up there?” Levi knocked his knuckles not too gently against Eren’s forehead before he started brushing his clothes clean from spots that had yet to appear, “I’m taking the piss, messing about.” This time he literally rolled his eyes at the still furiously blushing Eren.

Eren tried to compose himself as he stood up ready to follow Levi out the door. This was so unlike him, he didn’t get embarrassed that easily. And Levi was just joking. Hahaha. Well funny.

“Uh, looks like the pizza’s here.” Levi mumbled and walked over to the big glass doors at the reception area. Eren was fishing his wallet out his jacket pocket as Levi returned, but was immediately stopped.

“Nope, my treat.” He argued and smacked Eren’s hand away, again not too gently. He thanked the pizza delivery guy, whose name was Connie according to his name tag and he seemed to be about Eren’s age. The pizza was sat down on a waiting bench where Levi also placed his behind, waiting for Eren to join him. The pizza was indeed cheesey, it looked like there’d been used about seven different kinds of cheese and Eren’s stomach made a not so subtle starving wolf pack sound.

“Eat, brat.” Levi commanded with his own hands full and Eren sat down next to him.

 

After five minutes the decently comfortable silence that had settled between them was finally broken. “So are you always this awkward outside the dojo or did I just completely break you today?” Levi asked.

“I think I broke myself, to be honest.” Eren replied, feeling another blush creeping up onto his cheeks. “I’m sorry I should never have attempted small-talk.” He said referring to the ‘Do you come here often’-mishap.

“Oh no, don’t apologise, I haven’t been that amused in ages, please continue your streak of verbal diarrhoea anytime, it’s wonderfully entertaining.”

Eren blushed again, mildly embarrassed. “Yessir!” but managed a genuine smile. “By the way, I wanted to ask, how old are you Sensei? ‘cause in uniform you look much older than now, now you almost look like you could be one of my classmates in university.”

“Tch, I’m actually not a shitty teenager anymore despite often being mistaken for one. I turned 34 this Christmas.”

Eren nearly choked on his pizza. After seeing Levi in casual wear he’d convinced himself that the age gap between them couldn’t possibly be that big, but it was 16 years!

Levi was looking a bit dissatisfied with the life or death struggle unfolding between Eren and his pizza next to him as a result of his age but regardless, when the kid finally managed to stifle his coughing he turned to his Sensei again. “You look much younger!”

“Yeah, you’re not the first one to notice, it’s actually rather irritating to still get carded at pubs when I just wanna buy a pint of lager…” Was he sulking? He was sulking. Aw, cute. No, not cute, this was grumpy Levi Sensei… Grumpy… not cute.

“But you act older, like it’s so obvious you’re old enough to buy alcohol, when one gets to know you.” Eren tried to salvage the situation and of course failing as Levi seemed to have some flair for pointing out the ambiguous parts of his awkward compliments and small-talks and turning them into something much less flattering…

“You saying I act like an old drunk?” One of his thin eyebrows arched over the grey eye underneath which shone of dissatisfaction.

“No…! You’re doing that on purpose…” Eren retorted not as amused as his Sensei, who involuntarily cracked a smile, breaking the stern façade at the childish tone Eren had applied.

“I can’t help myself, you make it too easy for me.” He bumped his fist into Eren’s shoulder a little too hard for it to really count as affectionately.

Eren wanted to be annoyed, but he felt approved of instead which was a lovely, warm almost fuzzy feeling. He couldn’t bring himself to attempt another compliment nor try with a clever comeback. So they just talked for a while till the pizza tray was empty and they didn’t have any excuses left to stay. Eren binned the empty box whilst Levi fished out a bottle of hand sanitizer from his bag and some moisturiser, not to dry the hands completely with the sanitizer.

“Come here.” Levi said holding out one of the little bottles.

It seemed a bit strange, but Eren wasn’t about to decline if the man was a germ-freak and this could ease his mind. Now that he thought about it Levi always seemed to be very much in control of things, he was always spotless and hadn’t he seen him sweeping the floor in this reception area more than once.

“Moisturiser?” Levi asked snapping Eren back out of his thoughts after he’d let him sanitize his hands.

“Uh, sure. Thanks.” Lavender scented. Nice.

“Do you need a ride home? I’m parked right outside and you first years aren’t allowed cars are you?”

“It only takes 20 minutes to walk though.”

“I’m taking that as a 'yes', as you didn’t decline, besides, I’d feel bad for letting you walk home alone in the dark as defenceless as you are.”

“Hey, I have amazing judo skills!” Eren spluttered with a new blush heating his ears. “You just happened to be like ten times better than everyone else, but I’m good too…”

Levi couldn’t pick this compliment apart and looked away as he opened the doors to the street whilst fiddling with his keys in his jean pocket. “Well you want that lift or what?”

“Yes please, that’d be nice.”  Eren said feeling a bit victorious since Levi hadn’t disagreed when he’d called himself moderately good.

“So which is your car?” Eren looked around outside.

“Car?” Levi asked, realising Eren didn’t know. “Oh yeah, I completely forgot!” He jogged back inside to the reception desk and ducked down behind the table. When he reappeared he was holding up two motorcycle helmets. One of them had an adventure time sticker on the side.

Both Eren’s mouth and eyes had turned perfectly circular as he realised the degree of unpredictability that came with his Sensei. A motorcycle! That was hella rad!

“You can borrow my friend’s.” Levi threw the helmet with the sticker over to Eren who caught it instinctively. “If you still want that ride of course, you look a bit put off…?”

“Oh, uh I do, I just, I didn’t realise… This is pretty solid though.” He smiled and put on the helmet. “How do I look?” He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes trying to look mean as he stroke a ‘biker-pose’, or at least he tried to do so. Levi bit his bottom lip and averted his gaze whilst locking up the dojo.

“Oh you look rad kid.” He mocked, unable to keep the amusement from his voice. “But helmets are for protection not fashion so it doesn’t matter how stupid your ass looks in it.” He put on his own helmet, which suited him heaps better than Eren’s  and then started walking.

“So where’s your bike?” Eren asked curiously looking around the car park again.

“Right over there.” Levi pointed towards the only motorcycle in sight, which was parked right under a street light in their otherwise dim surroundings. It was a black sports touring type, and looked pretty new, though that might be because Levi was clearly the type of person who would keep his things in such a condition.

“Wow! It looks so cool!” Eren exclaimed, letting his inner teenage boy get through. “It’s so shiny and sporty and big.”

“Yeah, yeah, enough fan-boying.” Replied Levi and straddled the bike and shifted his bag so it wouldn’t bother his steering. “Come on up here.” He patted the leather behind him, and somewhat hesitantly Eren swung his leg over the bike and sort of awkwardly tried not to breech Levi’s personal space to much, despite touching being inevitable. He heard Levi sigh that mildly annoyed sigh he always did before he felt his hands being tugged around his Instructor’s waist. “Hold on, princess.” And Eren leaned into Levi and hugged him tightly for the short ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops forgot to mention! There is some judo terminology used if not in this chapter then in the upcoming ones, such as gi=the traditional white (or occasionally blue) outfit that looks kinda pyjamas-y which the practiciners wear.  
> Uke and tori=tori is the person performing a throw or hold and Uke is the person who is being thrown or held down. (I'm like 90% sure these roles have different terms to describe them, depending on your club or whateves, but these or what I've been taught)  
> I assume everyone knows sensei?  
> If I forgot anything abstructive to the meaning of the story then please let me know!! ^_^


End file.
